The Rise of a new generation of Mormons

Readers are encouraged to read this great article which was published in the Financial Times about four months ago. The article highlights Mormons' success in business, the arts, and politics. It describes the Church's international missionary efforts, including how missionary experiences helped influence prominent LDS leaders. Access the article online at the Financial Times: http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/938ff454-8a32-11df-bd30-00144feab49a.html#ixzz14nDEvUV3

Dr. Keith Finlayson, M.D. of the Mormon Tabernacle Choice

This article in the Deseret News is about my medical doctor (ENT) in Salt Lake City, Dr. Keith Finlayson.  He also served a mission in Brazil, and he sings in the Mormon Tabernacle Choir!

Australian Mormon assists Aussie Prime Minister Rudd

An Australian Latter-day Saints helped Prime Minister Rudd during his much anticipated speech, in which he apologized formally for the Australian's government treatment of Aboriginese Australians.  

The Church in Australia has grown significantly.  There are five LDS temples in Australia.

Conference on Global LDS Church and Public Perception

This coming Monday at BYU (Brigham Young University) in Provo, Utah, scholars, journalists, students, Mormons, non-Mormons, will gather at an all-day international conference to discuss the public perceptions of the Church throughout the world.

For more information, click here.

Los Angeles Times discusses Mormons & Muslims

(This photo courtesy Meridian Magazine; in the photo are Mr. Flake, of LDS Church humanitarian services, with Mr. Shawky, his counterpart at the partner organization Islamic Relief, with tons of load of international food and medical aid.) 
(Photo courtesy a professor at Oxford who took this picture of a Muslim gentleman with two Mormon missionaries in France.)

Last night my sister-in-law showed me an article in the Los Angeles Times by David Haldane about Mormons, Muslims, and the relationship between the two groups.

The full text of the article is available here.

Recently I attended an event held at UCLA featuring a panel discussion of representatives from Islam and Mormonism.  I wrote on the event here.  The reporter responsible for yesterday's L.A. Times article, David Haldane, was at that event as well.

The Los Angeles Times article addresses the interaction of Arabic scholars at Brigham Young University and the Islamic clerical community.  BYU has become a sort of center for Arabic text translation.  Also, while I was a student at BYU, the school partnered with the FBI to become an official Arabic language training location for the agency.  

The relationship between the Mormons and Muslims demonstrate just how much the two peoples and religions have in common.

The late LDS scholar, Dr. Hugh Nibley, wrote extensively about the similarities between Islam and the Restored Gospel (LDS), citing among other things, the religions' dedication to humanitarian service and prophetic visions.  In fact, many in the LDS Church have recognized that Mohammed was called by God and received divine inspiration.  

NPR reports on opposing Mormon legislators in Arizona

Two LDS Arizona state congressmen were highlighted in a story yesterday on National Public Radio (NPR).   Above is Phoenix legislator, Bill Kopenickee.  NPR highlighted the disagreement between Mr. Kopenickee, and his colleague, Russell Pearce, of Mesa, Arizona.  

Both legislators are members of the same political party, but disagree starkly on the right approach to address immigration issues in Arizona.  Interesting story at NPR.org.

Spanish-speaking membership of the Church

The Arizona Star has written a story about growth of the Mormon Church among Spanish-speakers in the U.S.

Mormons have America's largest families

According to a recent study from the Pew Forum on Religious and Public Life, Mormons have the largest families overall among religious denominations (in 2nd places in this category are Muslims) in the U.S.

Another interesting finding of the research shows that Mormons are the 2nd most married religious group in America, after Hindus.

Mormon Church's lay ministry & service organization draw attention in media

The following text (and the above photo) has been extracted from the LDS Church's Newsroom.

According to Terryl Givens, professor of literature and religion at Virginia’s Richmond University, the practice of providing universal volunteer service opportunities to youth and adults in any given congregation leads to personal and social benefits.

“The value of the system is that it prevents religion from ever becoming a spectator sport. One doesn’t go to church to be ministered to, but to minister,” he said.

“And since we tend to love those people and institutions we invest in,” he adds, “lay service forges powerful bonds of interdependency and unity.”

In order to understand what makes Mormon congregations “unusually cohesive faith groups,” as Givens calls them, a closer look is necessary.

According to former Mormon bishop Chris Rutter, lay service “gives members a chance to learn new skills and knowledge, strengthening their faith and enhancing their religious experience.”

Rutter says that young people, new members and all others who are capable of contributing are given a church duty, such as leading the music, teaching a class or organizing the scout troop.

Church Historian's Press Announced

This morning, the LDS Church announced the creation of the new Church Historian's Press, a new imprint responsible for a series of Church historical documents.  The Press will target scholars and researchers to enable and facilitate further research on the Church's history and origins.  The picture above is an artist's rendition of the Church History Library, which is currently under construction on the northeast corner of North Temple and Main Streets in Salt Lake City, Utah.

New Book on Charity

I recommend a new book by Latter-day Saint, Eric Lundquist.  His book is available for purchase here.

Mormons for Obama

This past week, Tom Wickman of the Boston chapter of MESJ (with Eunice and Peter McMurray) wrote an opinion piece in the Salt Lake Tribune about his perspective as an LDS supporter of Senator Barack Obama.  Let me know what you think of this piece.

Interview about Mormons in Orange County

The Orange County Register published their interview with Newport Beach Stake president, Dr. Weatherford Clayton.  This article appeared in the newspaper in December (last month).  Mormons have received lots of media coverage in Newport Beach because of the new LDS Temple (in the photo) which was recently constructed.  The temple is situated very close to the campus of the University of California Irvine.

Some excerpts from the interview:

• On the 8.8-acre Newport Beach campus, where along with the temple there is a meeting house, we met with Dr. Weatherford Clayton, 55, stake (diocese) president. An obstetrician and father of five children, he has been a Mormon "basically all my life.

• Christ instructed his apostles to "Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the father, and of the son, and of the holy ghost, teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you." We believe this injunction to still be in force, and over 50,000 missionaries are currently serving the savior throughout the world.

• We enthusiastically accept . . . that the two greatest commandments are to love the lord with all our hearts and to love our neighbors as ourselves.
  

Mormons & Muslims unite at UCLA

A recent public dialogue was held on the campus of the University of
California Los Angeles (UCLA). The November 29, 2007, dialogue was organized by local
Muslim & LDS students and scholars.  

The event was entitled "Mormons, Muslims, and the Media." Many Muslims and Mormons came from across Los Angeles County to attend the discussion.  It was a remarkable event that intensified the friendship between the Islamic and Mormon groups in Southern California.

At the event, we enjoyed a stimulating discussion of Mormonism, Islam and the media's role y in informing public udnerstanding of these two dynamic faith groups.  

The panelists included:

• Dr. Claudia Bushman, Columbia University (visiting scholar at the Huntington Library in Pasadena, California), Author of Contemporary Mormonism
• Mr. David Haldant, The Los Angeles Times, reporter on Mormon & Muslim communities in Southern California
• Dr. Amir Hussain, Loyala Marymount Univ., Author of Oil & Water: Two Faiths, One God
• Moderator: Dr. Karen Torjesen, Dean of the School of Religion at Claremont Graduate University
  

This event was a great opportunity for all to interact, learn, reach out, and understand each other's religion, culture, and (mis)representations in the media.  Thanks to all who organized the event.

Video of LDS Church in Africa

The Mormon Church has grown tremendously in sub-Saharan Africa. In Nigeria, there is an LDS temple and over 70,000 Church members. (video courtesy The Washington Post)

Hispanic Americans in the LDS Church

Please follow this link to a story from Mesa, Arizona.  

During recent year, the LDS Church has seen a huge growth spurt among urban Hispanics, Blacks, and immigrants.  This article discusses how the growing number of Hispanic Mormons in Mesa changes the LDS community there.

NPR about Mormon Linguists in U.S. Military

Please follow this link to read and hear about Mormon linguists recruited into the American military.  ( I am one of those Mormon linguists who have been approached by military!) The story is a little old . . .